The Nation Newspaper

Tag: group

  • Group donates classrooms to school

    Group donates classrooms to school

    Imo State government has said that education remains the biggest industry of the state and is consequently given top priority in the state.

    That is why the Rochas Okorocha administration has made free and qualitative education a major policy thrust of the state’s Rescue Mission agenda.

    The Commissioner for Primary, Secondary and Non-formal Education, Dr. (Mrs.) Uche Ejiogu stated this while inaugurating a new classroom block built and donated by US-based Ulakwo People’s Assembly for Community Central School, Ulakwo in Owerri North Local Government Area.

    Dr. Ejiogu noted that the Okorocha-led administration has repositioned and transformed the education sector as well as other sectors. Some of these achievements are construction of 305 units of modern school blocks and payment of monthly allowances to pupils and students of the state’s public schools.

    She further said government has sustained regular payment of teachers’ salaries and allowances, even as it has recruited more teachers to improve pupils and student-teacher ratio in public schools.

    She reeled off other achievements to include establishment of Owerri City School, establishment of Imo College of Advanced Professional Studies (ICAPS), procurement and distribution of 600,000 set of school uniforms and desks to all public school, among others.

    The commissioner praised the Ulakwo People’s Assembly for contributing to the development of education in the state, pointing out that government would welcome individuals, groups and communities that will identify and partner with it in this direction.

    Chairman Ulakwo People’s Assembly in the USA, Chief Adol Ibe disclosed that the association embarked on the construction of the five blocks of 10 classroom buildings as a result of the deplorable condition of the school.

    He expressed his hope that the gesture would salvage the awful school environment.

    Chief Ibe, however, commended Okorocha for the giant strides his administration has made in revamping education in the state, even as he assured that the association will continue to partner with government in its effort to turn the fortunes of the state around.

    Contributing, the Headmistress of Community Central School, Ulakwo and Mrs. Hope Nnaji thanked the Ulakwo People’s Assembly USA, saying that God used it as a vessel of change in enhancing the community’s human capital development. She prayed for God’s blessing s and guidance on them.

    Mrs. Nnaji noted that from 2011when she was posted to the school, its population has risen from 159 to 400 pupils, a rise she attributed to the free and compulsory education programme by the state government and the unrelenting efforts of the teachers.

    She added that with the new buildings in place, teachers are motivated and pupils enjoy environment conducive enough for teaching and learning.

    She also commended the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) for supplying desks and chairs for the teachers, urging them to supply textbooks and bookshelves for the school library. She equally commended the free education programme of government as well the distribution of school uniforms to pupils in the public schools.

  • Group to train 100 youths

    Group to train 100 youths

    The President, Webisco International Federation of Nigerian Entrepreneurs of Tourism, Chief Margaret Fabiyi said 100 youths would be trained on how to prepare traditional foods.

    Mrs Fabiyi said in Abuja that the nation’s indigenous foods were going into extinction.

    According to her, the training which is free for the first 100 youths, is part of the company’s contributions towards improving the standard of living of the people.

    “The purpose of the training is for Nigerians and foreigners to appreciate and embrace indigenous meals, as well as for tourists and visitors to embrace our locally-made foods and for them to give the foods international recognition,’’ she said.

    Fabiyi said foreign continental dishes have taken over the traditional dishes, adding that “most Nigerians no longer want to eat traditional foods again’’.

    According to her, “all they requested for at the fast food joints are Chinese, Italian and Korean dishes which are not supposed to be.

    “Eating local and natural foods enhances longevity.’’

    Fabiyi said eating home-grown foods was a great way of celebrating the uniqueness of African foods.

    She described Nigerian delicacies as “highly nutritious, healthy, medicinal, readily available and easy to prepare”.

     

  • Group seeks youth empowerment

    Group seeks youth empowerment

    The fight against corruption and terrorism can only be meaningful if youths are empowered through provision of basic education that will make them better citizens.

    That was the statement of the coordinator of youth empowerment programme of the Christians Pentecostal Mission (CPM) International Church, Mr Stanley Prince Anyim.

    According to Anyim, the programme has become popular among non members as it now empowers youths as part of their contribution to nation-building.

    “Generally ethics and values start from the church and if the church cannot rise up to its responsibility to help the youth by equipping them with skills with various trainings, then, what is the essence of the church in the society?

    He said the church can only keep the country in harmony by keeping the youth busy and giving them a realistic future.

    The coordinator said youths are used in many crimes such as killing,(Boko Haram insurgency) oil theft, election manipulations which are inimical to the progress of the country.

    He urged church leaders to add value to human life by making youths useful citizens of the country.

    It would be recalled that Rev Mercy Ezekiel of the Christian Pentecostal Mission,had trained many youths in many vocations including computer engineering,hair dressing,tie and dye and basic education for some to better their lot in life.

    Many have also been trained on soap making, household items, antiseptic, disinfectants and registered their products with companies.

    He, therefore, urged youths to engage in training programmes such as entrepreneurial or financial management that will create economic independence.

    One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Bose Izekor, who trained on soap making, household items, antiseptic, disinfectants and air freshner thanked Rev Ezekiel for empowering her with huge amount of money to establish her business.

    The woman coordinator of Mercy Outreach, Mrs Glory Ecummu, said it is Rev Dr Ezekiel’s vision to empower women.

    She said: “The programme is to educate and enlighten both members and non-members of the church so that they can be useful to the society.

     

  • Group urges Fed Govt to tackle multiple taxation

    The Tax Payers Association of Nigeria (TAPAN) has urged the Federal Government to address the problem of multiple taxation.

    TAPAN, which  commended the Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for her position on multiple taxation and its consequences on the economy, also decried tax filling processes.

    In a statement in Abuja by its BoT Chairman, Mr Nzekwe and President, Philip  Ilokhulo, the group said unless the minister’s advice are heeded, the trend could have adverse effects on businesses and the economy.

    TAPAN, which planned to address the nation on some national issues, said the association was concerned about multiple taxation and the use of tax payers’ fund in delivery the dividend of democracy.

    The TAPAN wondered why some states would have various business taxes, levies and charges.

    According to the association, “the minister is right; this could kill business and have adverse effect on tax payers”.

    TAPAN urged the government to heed the advice of MAN and review the various taxes and levies on businesses, to ensure effective diversification of the economy and encourage competition.

    It called on the Federal Government and tax authorities to ensure there is transparency in the tax regime, make the procedure of payment easier for tax payers.

    “The tax payers have been at the receiving end of very cumbersome procedure and management and use of what the majority of Nigerian tax payers. We must ensure things change,” it said.

  • Tukur’s group backs Jonathan

    The crisis-ridden Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday threw darts at “renegade” members as it bemoaned the state of affairs in the ruling party.

    The Bamanga Tukur-led leadership also sued for peace in a statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, which urged estranged members to fully utilise the window of dialogue and reconciliation offered by the party.

    “The on-going muted skirmishes and well-organised theatrics aimed at portraying the President in a bad light are not necessary because, as members of one big family, no challenge is insurmountable.

    “This tactic is antithetical to democracy but not an unfamiliar rule of engagement. However, it is important that we avoid over-stretching it and shutter not, glaring overtures to reason so as not to play into the waiting hands of the desperate, wishing to incite the people and destroy our common destiny,” Metuh said.

    According to him, the problem in the party was a challenge which could be resolved within the ambit of its existing crisis resolution mechanism.

    He regretted that cleavages within the party were being exaggerated by “some politicians” desperately looking for quick photo-ups through sensationalism in the media.

    “We wish to assure our members therefore that we are still capable of resolving our challenges and urge them to be more committed to our progress. We shall emerge stronger”, Metuh added diffidently.

    Reaffirming the support of the Bamanga Tukur- led PDP for President Goodluck Jonathan, the party spokesman said the President’s achievements were being under-reported by the media.

    In a veiled swipe at the media, Metuh said the administration’s weak points were being unnecessarily celebrated by those he described as detractors, just to gain prominence.

    He said: “While the inconsequential makes the banner, the essentials and the substantial in the consistent though quiet transformation of the nation are tucked away in obscure riders.

    “Very unfortunately, the easiest way to gain prominence today is to attack the President and the leadership of his party, not on issues of governance or on alternative direction of governance, but on the pedestrian that borders on sheer mudslinging.

    “The media is a critical building block of democracy and the Nigerian media has stood firm across the decades. It must not relent.

    “In all this, our firm support for the President as the leader and symbol of our party in government remains total. We shall neither waiver nor allow narrow sentiments stand in the way of the absolute resolve of our great party to better the lot of all Nigerians”.

    The statement added that the nation would benefit the more if detractors of the President pick him or his party on issues of development so as to enrich the practice of democracy.

  • Group, firm strike deal on trucks’acquisition

    The Association of Maritime

    Truck Owners (AMATO) has

    struck a deal with Multi-Trade Nigeria Limited on trucks acquisition as part of efforts to rid roads of rickety vehicles.

    Under the deal, Multi-Trade will import trucks for AMATO members, who will buy them on hire purchase.

    The partnership, according to both organisations, led to the importation of the first batch of 2,000 trucks for AMATO members. The vehicles are at the trucks’ holding bay of the International Trade Fair Complex on Lagos-Badagry Expressway. The bay, which has capacity to accommodate 5,000 trucks, would ease congestion at the ports.

    AMATO chairman Chief Remi Ogungbemi, who spoke on the partnership in Apapa, Lagos, said he was happy about the deal, adding that it would improve the business of their members, and ease the challenge of parking space created after the concession of port terminals.

    He said the challenge of truck operators was the dearth of modern truck terminals since the ports reform, adding that the agency that carried out the reforms did not factor in the truck operators’ job schedules, noting that most of the places designated as truck terminals were taken over without providing alternatives.

    Ogungbemi said: “The conces-sionaires barricaded the places given to our members making it extremely impossible for trucks to access where they have been assigned to load. Trucks must come from somewhere and cannot operate in the air.”

    He explained that improved profitability and need for professionalism within the haulage sub-sector of the maritime industry is a driving force for the partnership.

    “We have started working on how to bring professionalism into trucking business in maritime industry. We are trying to improve our standards, improve our operations and improve our language,” he added.

    The Consultant to AMATO and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Melno and Partners, Chris Orode, said the movement of the trucks from the port environment in line with government’s directive, is part of measures to meet the 90-day ultimatum on the International Ships and Ports (facilities) Code (ISPS).

    Orode said he believes that the government would meet the requirements of the ISPS code before the expiration of the ultimatum.

     

  • Amaechi: Clark’s group takes on Soyinka, four governors

    Amaechi: Clark’s group takes on Soyinka, four governors

    The Southsouth elders and stakeholders, a group led by one time federal commissioner and Ijaw leader Chief Edwin Clark, yesterday condemned Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi for his role in the House of Assembly fracas.

    The group also lambasted the four Northern governors who visited Amaechi in solidarity.

    Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka was also not spared condemnation for dragging First Lady Dame patience Jonathan into the crisis. Clark claimed that Soyinka kept quiet during the House of Assembly crisis in Ogun and Oyo states.

    Clark, who spoke at a news conference, accused Amaechi whom he claimed was his political son, of mischief.

    He said the Rivers governor isn being backed by people who want to destabilise the country.

    He said: “It is our position that Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi shall not continue the charade of blaming President Jonathan and his wife over the internal crisis in his state.

    “He should reflect on his memorable journey thus far and learn to be humble before God. As aptly admonished by Orji Uzor Kalu, former Governor of Abia State and Yinka Odumakin, the Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, party loyalty demands that members, no matter how highly placed, must respect and honour directives from the party leadership.

    “No party leader, including those presently manipulating Amaechi, can tolerate the high level insubordination and disrespect he has continually flaunted. We therefore advise Governor Amaechi to resign honourably from his party for continuing to wage his war of acrimony against the leadership of the party. Failing that, we call on the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to take the stringent measures to expel him to bring sanity to the party and to serve as deterrent to other renegade members.”

    The Clark group asked the northern governors that visited Amaechi what they did when the PDP crisis in Adamawa State became so intractable and at the height of Boko Haram killings in the Northeast.

    The group expressed surprise on the statement credited to Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako that they will bury the PDP.

    “How else would Governor Nyako reportedly boast that they will bury the PDP if not through undemocratic means? We make bold to say that their unholy romance with Amaechi and non-democratic forces over the crisis in Rivers State, which they have continually blown out of proportion, is an ominous threat to this democratic dispensation.”

    On Soyinka’s attacks on the First Lady, the group accused the writer of mute indifference and cold complicity when the Ogun Assembly was enmeshed in a crisis, where lawmakers brutalized one another and when former Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja was impeached by minority members in the Oyo State House of Assembly.

    “As democrats, we believe that power belongs to the people who are the custodians of sovereignty. Therefore, the emergence or otherwise of President Jonathan as president in 2015 should he decide to contest, shall be the responsibility of Nigerians. It is not for a group of people to decide the fate of President Jonathan, no matter their unholy alliance and gang-up. Our concern is premised on the fact these same governors have been vociferous in their agitation for power-shift to the North at all cost.

    Clark said the intention of north’s governors who visited Amaechi was suspicious, given the fact that they did not begin their consultations with “doyens of democracy”, such as President Shehu Shagari but decided to embrace “former military dictators and supplanters of governments make their purpose and intention suspicious”.

    “We therefore wish to caution that Nigerians, particularly those in authority, should guard their utterances and actions to avoid over-heating the polity.

    “The Southsouth will hold any such persons wholly responsible, should their over-heating vituperations serve as a conductor to derail our hard-won democracy, particularly at this time when a son of the Southsouth is privileged by the blessings of God and Nigerians to provide leadership.”

    The Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi expressed regret that elders, who should mediate in the political crisis, are “clearly” taking sides.

    Amaechi also declared that external persons were involved in the political crisis in the state, without mentioning their names.

    He described the statements by Clark; and Okupe, as very unfortunate.

    Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), last night, spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, David Iyofor.

    The Rivers governor said: “It is very unfortunate that elders, who should mediate in the political crisis in Rivers state, are clearly taking sides.

    “How can Dr. Doyin Okupe describe the political crisis in Rivers state as a local issue, in spite of the intervention of the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, governors across Nigeria and civil rights activists, among other eminent personalities?”

  • Groups seek to protect women’s right

    A non-governmental organisation, the Youth Empowerment and Development Centre (YEDEC), has decried the rights abuses suffered by women because of ignorance.

    It said more women must be aware of their civil liberties, especially as regards sexual and reproductive health rights.

    At a workshop which dwelled on the outcome of the fifth African conference on sexual reproductive health and rights, the group’s President, Aisiri Christian called for more support for less-educated women.

    The event, sponsored by the Ford Foundation West Africa, had the theme: Sexual health and rights in Africa: where we are?

    Christian said there’s need to re-examine the policy, financing and programmes on sexual and reproductive health rights of women and youth.

     

  • Vigilance group brutalises man

    A 42-year-old man, Mr. Sunday Ajayi, was at the weekend brutalised by a vigilance group at Ojumose in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital.

    The incident, which occurred during the monthly sanitation, led to criticisms of members of the group, who were described as “arrogant and brutal” in their dealings with the public, especially on sanitation days.

    According to eyewitnesses, the victim, who said he was ill and was going to the next street for medication, was stopped by a woman member of the group.

    Mr. Ajayi was reported to have fled when he was ordered to stop. The woman, simply identified as Sola, ran after him and caught him.

    The sources said she hit him (Ajayi) with her boot, causing him to fall down before another male member of the group called Ade joined her to beat the victim.

    According to the sources, on realising that Ajayi had become unconscious, Sola and Ade attempted to flee the scene, but were apprehended by sympathisers, who had been watching the incident.

    The victim, after regaining consciousness, told the sympathisers, including the state Commandant of the Vigilance Group of Nigeria (VGN), Mr. Ajagunigbala Moses that “he ran so that they would not hand him over to the police.”

    Ajagunigbala, who pleaded for peace, promised to “do everything to get to the root of the matter and deal with the culprits.”

    Mr. Ajayi was taken to the State Specialist Hospital for medical aid in a vehicle belonging to the State Commandant.

  • No lesson learnt from June 12, says group

    The Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum has criticised politicians for failing to learn any lesson from the annulled June 12 1993 election, 20 years after.

    In a statement yesterday, the group said events of today portend danger ahead of the 2015 polls.

    The Secretary General of the Group Mr Akin Malaolu said the Nigerian Governors Forum election “is a pointer to what to expect in 2015 and a pointer to the fact that no lessons have been learnt from the June 12 matter.”

    “Nigerians should be very vigilant taking the NGF election into consideration because it is a fact now that those who annulled Chief Moshood Abiola’s victory in 1993 are stiil very much around and are ready to annul another good man’s victory in 2015,” the statement added.